Five Etymologies that May Change the Way You Think About Literature
Did you know that the words ‘fiction’ and ‘dough’ are closely related? Read on to find out how, and for more eye-opening information about the origins of common literary terms. 1. Scene It probably doesn’t surprise you that before the word ‘scene’ was applied to literature in general, it was solely a theatrical term that meant the...
Truly Embellished Nonfiction
Nonfiction writers and readers are no strangers to the dialectic between those who think there is room in nonfiction for embellishment, and those who disapprove of any kind of fact-bending. At the heart of the debate seems to be a disagreement of what it means for a story to be true. Is a story true...
Do Stories Benefit Us?
The common sentiment among writers and readers is that stories are good for us, and many would say that we need stories. Tim Parks explores this idea for the New York Review of Books blog. Why do we claim that stories benefit us, or fulfill a need? Is it because they allow us to find ourselves in an...
Lee Gutkind’s ‘The Yellow Test’ and Other Advice
Lee Gutkind, founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction, wrote an article in the New York Times back in 2013 about the importance and function of scene in writing nonfiction. The article is aptly named “The Yellow Test,” which is the technique Gutkind proposes writers use in order to check that their work is scene-heavy. The test simply involves highlighting...
‘Keep it Short,’ an Article on Brevity
“Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand.” -E.B. White Short and sweet nonfiction has become a popular form, especially with the success of Brevity Magazine, a journal that publishes works of nonfiction that are 750 words or less. But what does it mean to keep your writing brief, besides just having a low word...
